{"id":510357,"date":"2026-08-17T12:05:36","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T10:05:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/?p=510357"},"modified":"2026-08-17T12:05:36","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T10:05:36","slug":"ognjen-dobric-obradovic-made-a-mistake-by-sidelining-motiejunas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/ognjen-dobric-obradovic-made-a-mistake-by-sidelining-motiejunas\/","title":{"rendered":"Ognjen Dobri\u0107: “Obradovi\u0107 made a mistake by sidelining Motiejunas"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Ognjen Dobri\u0107 rarely gives lengthy interviews, but he opened up on a wide range of topics during an appearance on the 6.75<\/em> podcast<\/a>, with much of the conversation focused on Crvena Zvezda.<\/p>\n

“Obradovi\u0107’s system could work with more time”<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Dobri\u0107 believes one of the main difficulties under Sa\u0161a Obradovi\u0107<\/strong> was translating the coach’s enormous basketball knowledge into something the players could consistently execute.<\/p>\n

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“Sa\u0161a really knows a lot about basketball, he sees it from every possible angle and I believe he can find a solution to any basketball problem.”<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

However, the Zvezda captain believes Obradovi\u0107 sometimes gave the players too much information:<\/p>\n

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“Players can’t look at basketball through his eyes because he is basically involved in basketball 24 hours a day. Not everyone can follow him.”<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Despite that, Dobri\u0107 believes Obradovi\u0107’s approach could ultimately work if given enough time:<\/p>\n

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“I think Sa\u0161a’s system could work if he had enough time, say two or three years with the same team.”<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The rotation became an issue<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Dobri\u0107 also revealed that some players were unhappy with the way Obradovi\u0107 managed the rotation.<\/p>\n

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“A lot of players weren’t happy because Sa\u0161a would take them out when they were playing well.”<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

According to Dobri\u0107, the coach sometimes followed the game plan he had prepared before tip-off rather than reacting to what was happening on the court.<\/p>\n

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“It’s as if he follows that plan more than what is happening on the court.”<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Dobri\u0107 stressed that Obradovi\u0107 was not deliberately trying to hurt the players, but rather remained committed to his basketball vision.<\/p>\n

“Sidelining Motiejunas was a mistake”<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

One of the strongest statements from Dobri\u0107 concerned Donatas Motiejunas<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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“Donatas practically turned our season around. Then Bolomboy and Rivero returned, so suddenly we had four centers, along with Odjeleye. Sa\u0161a decided to sideline Motiejunas, and I think that was a mistake.”<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Dobri\u0107 believes the Lithuanian big man remained an important piece:<\/p>\n

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“I don’t think Donatas expected it either, because he had an important role and knew Sa\u0161a’s system well. He was a very important piece for us.”<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Dobri\u0107 and Obradovi\u0107 maintained a constructive relationship<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Despite disagreements over basketball decisions, Dobri\u0107 said his relationship with Obradovi\u0107 remained positive.<\/p>\n

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“Sa\u0161a and I spoke often and they were mostly constructive conversations. He was trying to find a way to approach the players.”<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

As captain, Dobri\u0107 also tried to act as a bridge between the coaching staff and the locker room:<\/p>\n

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“I would tell him certain things, he would listen to me, but in the end he would still stick to his system and his approach.”<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

“Teodosi\u0107 is perfect for this job”<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Dobri\u0107 was particularly positive when discussing Milo\u0161 Teodosi\u0107<\/strong>, his former teammate who has moved into an important sporting role at Crvena Zvezda following his playing career.<\/p>\n

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“This job really suits Mi\u0161a. He has completely immersed himself in the role.”<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

According to Dobri\u0107, Teodosi\u0107 was already showing those qualities while he was still a player:<\/p>\n

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“Even when he was a player, he was constantly talking, organizing meetings and dealing with these things. This is practically the ideal job for him.”<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

His reputation in European basketball is another major asset:<\/p>\n

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“He has a huge name in European basketball and when Milo\u0161 Teodosi\u0107 calls you, it’s immediately a different story. I think Zvezda made a great move there.”<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The Teodosi\u0107 and Serbia chapter<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Dobri\u0107 also recalled the episode that led to Teodosi\u0107’s exclusion from the Serbian national team<\/strong>, under head coach Svetislav Pe\u0161i\u0107<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

He remembered an incident during a training camp in Stara Pazova, when Teodosi\u0107 became frustrated during a defensive drill.<\/p>\n

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“We woke up around four and I saw Mi\u0161a’s message in the group. Nobody had any idea that things could go in that direction. He never came back. He left while we were sleeping.”<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Dobri\u0107 admitted he does not know exactly what happened between Teodosi\u0107 and Pe\u0161i\u0107:<\/p>\n

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“I really don’t know what happened between the two of them. Unfortunately, that’s how his story with the national team ended.”<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Crvena Zvezda captain Ognjen Dobri\u0107 discussed Sa\u0161a Obradovi\u0107’s system, the team’s struggles last season, the decision to remove Donatas Motiejunas from the rotation and Milo\u0161 Teodosi\u0107’s new role within the club.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":145,"featured_media":510356,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_spbk_hide_featured":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[191,199,297],"tags":[],"rumors":[],"typology":[],"posizionamento":[],"class_list":["post-510357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aba-liga","category-euroleague","category-serbia"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/08\/2026Doniselli15gennaio166.jpg","digistream_id":0,"digistream":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/145"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=510357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510357\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/510356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=510357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=510357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=510357"},{"taxonomy":"rumors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rumors?post=510357"},{"taxonomy":"typology","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/typology?post=510357"},{"taxonomy":"posizionamento","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posizionamento?post=510357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}